No. 1 Seed Denver Hosts MPSF Championship Tournament

4/26/2010 12:00:00 AM

April 26, 2010

# 18 DENVER (6-0 MPSF, 12-4 overall) hosts the MPSF Championship Tournament this week, and is the No. 1 seed. The Pioneers get a Thursday quarterfinal bye, and face the Oregon-UC Davis winner in Friday's semifinal at 6 pm. Ali Flury leads the conference with 45 goals while Lexi Sanders leads in assists (38) and points (62). The Pioneers take a five-game win streak into the postseason after a 9-7 decision at Oregon last Saturday. Denver never trailed in the finale, as Kara Secora tallied a hat trick and Sanders put away a pair of goals.

# 15 STANFORD (5-1 MPSF, 11-5 overall) raced out to an early 7-0 lead against UC Davis en route to a 17-14 win and securing the No. 2 tournament seed. Claire Hubbard recorded seven points on three goals and four assists. Dana Lindsay, Lauren Schmidt, and Sarah Flynn each added four points, with Lindsay putting away a team-high four goals. The Cardinal faces Fresno State at 1 pm in Thursday's quarterfinal, a 19-4 MPSF outcome on Apr. 2. Flynn ranks fourth in the MPSF in scoring with 36 goals while Annie Read records a high of 9.87 saves per game.

CALIFORNIA (3-3 MPSF, 7-9 overall) evened up its conference record to finish the 2010 schedule with a pair of wins at St. Mary's (12-4) and at home over Fresno State (16-0). The Bears used an 8-1 second half in Moraga to secure the win. Tara Arolla delivered a game-high three goals in the finale. Cal is the No. 3 seed, winning the three-way tiebreaker over UC Davis and Oregon due to goal differential in games played amongst those teams. St. Mary's is the first opponent Thursday at 3:30 pm. Alyse Kennedy ranks fifth in the MPSF with 34 goals (2.12 GPG).

OREGON (3-3 MPSF, 7-10 overall) came up short in the regular season finale, 9-7 at home to Denver. Jana Drummond recorded a hat trick along with three groundballs and two caused turnovers. The Ducks are the No. 4 seed in the tournament, meeting No. 5 UC Davis Thursday at 6 pm in the third quarterfinal. Oregon won the conference game in Davis on Apr. 18, 14-6. Drummond ranks second in the MPSF this year in scoring (42 G).

UC DAVIS (3-3 MPSF, 10-5 overall) split a pair on the road during the final regular season weekend, defeating Fresno State 17-1 before a strong comeback fell short at No. 15 Stanford, 17-14. Britt Farquharson scored a game-high six goals in Palo Alto, while Molly Lapolla and Gina Hoffmire added hat tricks. Lapolla also dished four assists for a seven-point outing. Christina Corsa and Hannah Mirza scored three apiece in the win. The Aggies are the No. 5 seed paired up against No. 4 Oregon. Hoffmire owns 42 goals this year, second most in the MPSF.

ST. MARY'S (1-5 MPSF, 4-11 overall) ended the regular season with a 12-4 loss to California as Amy Daniels and Katie Nelson scored two apiece. SMC held tough in the opening frame, down 4-3 at the half. The Gaels are the No. 6 seed this week, once again facing the Bears in the second quarterfinal Thursday. Caroline Mahony has dished out 12 assists this year, ranking in the conference top-10.

FRESNO STATE (0-6 MPSF, 0-13 overall) dropped a pair to UC Davis and California to end the 2010 regular season, and meets No. 2 seed Stanford Thursday. Bulldog defender Krisdina Gehring leads the conference in caused turnovers per game (2.00).

CLAIRE HUBBARD MPSF PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Stanford senior attacker Claire Hubbard (Lutherville, MD/Towson HS) combined for seven points on three goals and four assists in a 17-14 win over UC Davis to clinch the MPSF Tournament No. 2 seed. She extended her single-season and school record assist mark with 35 this year and 82 for her career.

Also Nominated: Kara Secora (DEN); Tara Arolla (CAL)